Perceptions of rural South Dakota consumers regarding the impact of technology on access to products

This study investigated sources of information used by rural consumers in the search for data on consumer products, assessed rural consumer attitudes toward using emerging communication technologies for the search and acquisition of products, and identified the process of adopting emerging communication technologies for the search and acquisition of consumer products. An initial sample of 735 rural South Dakotans residing in towns with a population of less than 10,000 was drawn by using random sampling, with 231 (31.4%) completing and returning useable surveys. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze and answer the fourteen research questions that guided the study.;The following findings emerged from the study. Family and friends, newspapers, and the store itself provided product information related to food purchases. Newspapers and magazines, retail stores, and mail order catalogs were consulted for clothing information. Friends were consulted for restaurant information. Actual products in the store were consulted for information on home furnishings. Local stores were the source most frequently cited for actual products purchased in the last six months prior to taking the survey. Local stores also provided consumers with greatest shopping satisfaction. Little satisfaction was expressed with Internet and television shopping, and fewer respondents had used these shopping mechanisms. They used the Internet more for E-mail and entertainment than for shopping. They recognized that more products and more brands are available through the Internet websites; but value, price, and good service were the shopping criteria that mattered most to them. They showed an overwhelming loyalty to local stores for the purchase of nearly all products. They were not particularly pressured for time. Internet shopping did not fit their lifestyle, and they had neutral feelings toward innovation. They were concerned that the money they pay in sales taxes remain in their local communities. College graduates and those with higher incomes used the Internet to research or purchase goods and services significantly more frequently than the other rural consumers.;Rogers' innovation diffusion theory indicates that these consumers are later adopters; when the majority of the rural consumers were in the persuasion stage they may not have had sufficient peers who were satisfied adopters to persuade them to try the innovation. The rural consumers are in the decision-making stage regarding the innovation of Internet shopping now. Therefore, rural retailers may need to proceed carefully with the establishment of websites, extension personnel should offer training for both retailers and consumers on benefits of using this mechanism, and a follow-up study of the same consumers is encouraged in a few years to track the diffusion process.